Editing 3058: Tall Structures

{{comic
| number    = 3058
| date      = March 3, 2025
| title     = Tall Structures
| image     = tall_structures_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x430px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = Briefly set a new record for tallest human-made structure by getting my knit sweater snagged on the skydiving plane door as I jumped and not noticing until I'd landed.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT ON TOP OF A SPACE ELEVATOR - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is a comparison of various tall buildings and structures, ranging from a {{w|pyramid of Giza}} to the {{w|Burj Khalifa}}. [[Randall]]'s definition of a structure apparently takes from amongst those artificial objects that have continuous extent from the ground to some height.

The buildings are sorted by height. The tallest structure (under Randall's terms) is an {{w|aerostat}} balloon, which significantly exceeds the height of the Burj Khalifa.

An aerostat is a lighter-than-air aircraft that can be tethered to the ground. This is the main joke of the comic, as as long as it is tethered to the ground and is higher than the Burj Khalifa, it could be considered the tallest man-made structure. The comic doesn't show the record for how high tethered aerostats can actually fly. The current world record is 4880&nbsp;meters, achieved on 23 September 2014, close to 6 times the height of Burj Khalifa. But it was also just some random aerostat flying today that is depicted. Showing the record would either dwarf the other buildings or make the comic very tall...

The joke in the title text is that Randall once skydived out of an airplane wearing a knit sweater. The sweater caught on the airplane door, and presumably unraveled as he descended. When he reached the ground, the long thread that extended up to the plane (typically 8,000 to 14,000 feet above the ground) set a temporary record for the tallest structure. This is not realistically feasible, since knit tops usually only use around 1000 m (3280 ft) of yarn if knit using thin fingerling weight yarn. However, a sweater knit at a T-shirt density could in fact use over 2000 m (6561 ft) of yarn, which (assuming it hasn't started felting) is enough to extend to skydiving height.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Labels below structures shown in a black silhouette, from left to right, shortest to tallest:]
:The Great Pyramid (Giza)
:The Shard (London)
:The Eiffel Tower (Paris)
:The Empire State Building (New York)
:The CN Tower (Toronto)
:The Clock Towers (Mecca)
:KRDK-TV Mast (North Dakota)
:Shanghai Tower
:Tokyo Skytree
:Merdeka 118 (Kuala Lumpur)
:Burj Khalifa (Dubai)
:Some random aerostat that happens to be operating today

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The Burj Khalifa is the world's tallest artificial structure, but only on days when no one is flying a high-altitude balloon aerostat.

==Trivia==
===Tall structures left out===
*This comic could use Ostankino Tower built in 1966 because it features KRDK TV mast.
*Pros: 
**The 1966 tower is 533m tall, *almost* as tall as CN tower
**Much, much sharper shape (it's so sharp it's closer to KRDK TV mast in shape than CN Tower - all while it's a freestanding structure)
*Cons: 
**Its silhouette does not match the typical image of a "huge rocket ready to go to space" 



{{comic discussion}}